US-led airstrikes claim 3 more civilian lives in Syria’s Dayr al-Zawr

In this file picture, smoke rises near the stadium where Daesh Takfiri terrorists are purportedly holed up after a US-led airstrike in Raqqah, Syria. (Photo by Reuters)

At least three civilians have lost their lives and several others sustained injuries when the US-led coalition purportedly fighting the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group conducted a series of airstrikes in Syria’s embattled eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr.

Local sources told Syria’s official news agency SANA that the aerial attacks hit al-Tayyaneh town in the province on Saturday.

The US-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes and operations against what are said to be Daesh targets inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate.

The military alliance has repeatedly been accused of targeting and killing civilians. It has also been largely incapable of achieving its declared goal of destroying Daesh.

Syria has on numerous occasions condemned airstrikes by the US-led coalition, asking the UN to force Washington and its allies to put an end to their military intervention in the Arab country.

This file picture shows a view of the building of Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates in the capital Damascus. (Photo by Sputnik news agency)

On January 19, the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, in two separate letters addressed to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the former rotating president of the Security Council, Francisco Antonio Cortorreal, censured US-led coalition strikes conducted against al-Baghuz al-Tahtani village in Dayr al-Zawr province a day earlier, saying the US-led warplanes had targeted dozens of families fleeing from areas controlled by Daesh.

Local sources, requesting anonymity, told SANA that 20 people were killed in the raid when US-led warplanes bombarded residential buildings in al-Baghuz al-Tahtani.

“This new crime is in line with the criminal acts that the US-led coalition is perpetrating systematically and on a daily basis against Syrian people, and in flagrant violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said the letters.

“The activities of this alliance are illegal as it has been formed outside the UN framework. Such acts have only contributed to the expansion of extremist terrorist organizations, especially Daesh. Cooperation and coordination between these terrorist groups and this alliance has been documented in numerous letters that [the] Syrian Arab Republic has sent to the Security Council,” added the letters.

The ministry also called on the UN Security Council to shoulder its responsibilities as regards to the establishment of international peace and security, and put an immediate halt to crimes against humanity that were being carried out by this “rogue” coalition against Syrian civilians and infrastructure.

It also demanded that the Council take necessary measures to set up an international mechanism to punish the perpetrators of such crimes.

Syrians protest presence of US, French troops in their country

Meanwhile, hundreds of people have staged rallies in Syria’s northern and eastern cities of Raqqah and Dayr al-Zawr in protest against the presence of American and French military forces there.

The demonstrators set US and French flags on fire, and demanded the deployment of Syrian government troops in areas liberated from the clutches of foreign-sponsored Takfiri terrorists.

In this file picture, people participate in a rally in protest against the presence of Turkish military forces in Syria. (Photo by SANA)

They also reaffirmed their strong objection to the presence of US soldiers and all foreign troops in the Arab country.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups wreaking havoc in the country.